Many varieties and breeds of bird often resort to self-mutilation during times of stress, injury, sickness, or nervousness. This self-mutilation often manifests itself with obsessive feather plucking or repeatedly picking at the skin. While normal grooming behavior is expected among birds, obsessive self-mutilation due to any reason can lead to further injury or even death.
Presently, bird owners have been left with few options to prevent this type of self-mutilation problem. One (1) such solution is the use of an Elizabeth collar which is intended to prevent the bird from excessive scratching, pecking, or feather plucking by restricting what the bird can reach with its beak. The Elizabeth collar is generally shaped like a truncated cone to prevent an animal from biting or licking at its body or scratching at its head or neck while wounds or injuries heal. The collar is generally attached to the pet's usual collar or around the neck with strings or tabs passed through holes punched in the sides of the plastic. The neck of the collar is short enough to let the animal eat and drink. Unfortunately, birds generally do not take well to wearing the Elizabeth collar since it makes it difficult for the bird to hold its head upright or walk. These collars can also get stuck in the bars of a bird cage and cause the bird to panic resulting in further and devastating injuries.
Other types of therapeutic bird collars attempt to solve this problem by removing the outwardly extending cone of the Elizabeth collar. However, these solutions are also not ideal and suffer from various disadvantages and deficiencies related to design or utilization. Particularly, current collars are often very uncomfortable for the bird due to size and weight and are prone to filth which can give rise to disease.